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Recent attack on woman in Portland brings up memories for other random attack victims

A woman was randomly attacked in Portland -- but she isn't the first. Other victims of random attacks say the attack brings up memories for them.

PORTLAND, Ore. — When video surfaced of a woman getting brutally attacked by a homeless person in the Ankeny Alley, it brought back painful memories for victims of the same type of senseless attacks.

"Out of nowhere, I'm just minding my own business like any morning," said Lupita Barriga. She was walking into work near SW 2nd and Washington on June 6, "Somebody just walked by me and punched me on my right arm, very hard."

Barriga knows she's lucky that that's all that happened to her. "I'm thankful that it wasn't worse for myself. I feel so bad for her that it was so unfortunate. "

That attack was enough to shatter her peace, to make her look over her shoulder just to get coffee. "Just the thought of heading into work and watching your back all the time now, makes you want to carry and I carry pepper spray now just to be safe."

Colby Betschart was also attacked, this time near NW 6th and Everett in the Pearl, "It was this random cracked out guy and he just kept kind of touching me and telling me to turn around. I thought that he was gone. I put my headphones back on and turned around and he socked me in the face hard. He shattered my nose."

Betschart now has a scar across the bridge of his nose that'll be a daily reminder of what happened on June 2nd. It also took away his peace of feeling comfortable in Portland. "It definitely makes you want to carry a knife on you at all times or a gun. It's terrifying that you actually have to live like that."

Businesses in the area have said that the problem with loitering and causing problems has gotten worse recently. Andrew Murdoch is the owner of District where the latest attack happened,  "This is the worst that we've seen."

He says that if this trend continues, it could hurt business, "I think some people from the suburbs are less and less likely to come down here, it's sort of unnerving. You see the video -- it makes you think twice."

Barriga says more needs to be done, "It really brings you to the level of how our system is literally breaking down. We need to get help. We need to end homelessness, not manage it."

Murdoch agrees, "I think we need to address the situation. It's affecting businesses, but it's also affecting those people's lives because everybody in their life has turned their back on them at this point in time."

Daniel Bertrand, the man accused of hitting that woman in the alley is back in jail, this time in Washington County on a trespassing charge.

We wanted to know why he wasn't charged with a more serious crime or if the current charges could be upgraded, the District Attorney's Office said that since the case is still open that they couldn't comment.

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